A totally new find by my husband, who on his way home from work knew that a sweet treat was needed for after dinner that evening. Now I have made it very clear that I love cinnamon, so anything cinnamon flavoured and I am all on board. This newest bun was made by Buns from Home, who seem to be a small chain that has stores throughout London. At the moment the cinnamon bun is the only vegan option the offer, but they also appear to only do around 3-4 flavours anyway. I am sure that if you were to have this fresh in store then it will taste a lot fresher than it did for me, since I did have mine about 3 hours after it was bought, after it had survived a trip through the London underground system and then sat on my kitchen counter until after I had dinner. So just something to keep in mind.
The website for Buns from Home claims that all of their pastries are baked fresh, and honestly this looked like it was. The pastry was a little too burnt for my liking, so make it very flaky on the outside layers, but the inside was very fluffy so no harm done. The slightly black areas you can see on the bun was in fact slightly burnt icing sugar, and whilst the outside was just a little bit too crisp for me, the icing was actually nicer for being a little burnt, as it did take away a lot of the sweetness from the icing. The outside was a little crisp, but the inside was very fluffy and moist, so overall it did balance itself out to be a very nice bun. I would however recommend you have this with some sort of hot beverage, just to get through the slightly drier outer layers.
The amount of cinnamon used was perfect in my opinion. Not so much as to be too hot and overpowering, but enough to let you know that there was absolutely cinnamon in this, which I really appreciate with my cinnamon. The actual dough of the bun was also quire sweet so I think that also helped to balance out the heat of the cinnamon. As I say, the icing sugar would also help this, but as mine was ever so slightly burnt it ended up adding a little bit of smoke to it. Which wasn’t bad, but not expected, and I am also certain that the slightly burnt nature to it is not standard.
The bun is also a really good size. Just enough to satisfy you. I think any bigger and it would just be too heavy, as the dough and the entire bun itself is pretty dense, but I also think any smaller and I would be a little disappointed. The size they have is prefect, as a sweet treat to enjoy with your cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate, and leaves you feeling satisfied with your treat but still leaves you just hungry enough to still be able to enjoy dinner or lunch shortly after.
The Buns from Home buns cost £3.50, at least they did from the Canary Wharf store. I believe it is the same across London, but if visiting it might be good to check first. £3.50 for a pastry, especially in London, is quite standard in my opinion, although if this brand were to expand and open stores that were outside of a huge city centre, I am not sure if the £3.50 cost would travel well. Personally, I really enjoyed this treat even with the slight burn, and I would really like to try one fresh from the store, so £3.50 for me is worth it.
Taylor Talks Vegan 